A new international poster for Fede Alvarez's Alien: Romulus has been released, and it gives us a terrifying new look at the long-awaited big-screen return of the Xenomorph, as one of the towering terrors faces down Cailee Spaeny's Rain Carradine.
The iconic alien of the title hasn't really undergone any major redesigns over the years (aside from the dog/ox-burster in Alien 3), but this latest take on the creature does appear to be a bit larger than any we've seen in previous movies.
The trailers promised a return to the visceral thrills and atmosphere of dread from Ridley Scott's original classic, and the cast ensured fans that Romulus will not be for the faint of heart during a recent interview with Total Film.
"I really do believe that there are specific sequences in this film that will scar some kids that sneak into the movie for life," Isabela Merced told the mag. "You can definitely say goodbye to a 12A," co-star David Jonsson added. "The halfway house with Fede [Alvarez, director] is just not his style. If you’re going to try and scare people, then you scare them."
"He doesn’t know how to not put that spin on it," Spaeny noted. "That is just his instinct. He’s waiting to do something strange and twisted. And you know he’s got it when you’re right on the edge of going, 'Should we do this?' That’s when you know, 'OK, Fede is in his sweet spot.'"
Fans certainly seem to be won over by what we've seen from the movie so far, and we'll get to find out if Romulus really is as unrelentingly nerve-shredding as it looks when it arrives in theaters on August 16.
"The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful Alien franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe."
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe 2) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett.
Alien: Romulus is produced by Ridley Scott (Napoleon), who directed the original Alien and produced and directed the series’ entries Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, Michael Pruss (Boston Strangler), and Walter Hill (Alien), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (Charlie’s Angels), Brent O’Connor (Bullet Train), and Tom Moran (Unstoppable) serving as executive producers.